Congress Is A Bunch of "Girlie Men"

Quit yer whinin'!

by Thomas Lindaman
08/01/04

Arnold Schwarzenegger angered Democrats recently after comments he made at a rally. Seems the Governator has had trouble with California Democrats not wanting to cut a budget deal, and this got him a little fired up. What you are about to read is a portion of what he said. I must warn you that if you are easily offended or if there are small children, elderly people, or household pets in the room as you're reading this, please skip to the paragraph after the next one.

Okay, here goes. Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "If they don't have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers...if they don't have the guts, I call them girlie men."

And he kisses a member of the Kennedy family with that mouth????

Schwarzenegger's comments raised quite a ruckus. Gay rights advocates were offended because they think "girlie men" is a slur against gays. Feminists were upset because they felt the term denigrated women. And conservatives are taking up arms to defend Schwarzenegger's comments as free speech or as a joke. Personally, I'm offended, not because of any of the reasons given so far, but because his comment were, well...tame.

In a related story, Democrats were also offended when Vice President Dick Cheney dropped an f-bomb on Senator Pat Leahy after the Senator spent time blasting Cheney on the record before coming over and trying to be chummy with him. That alone earns Leahy the Dumbass of the Year award, but apparently that didn't matter because...Cheney used a swear word!!!!

Can we drop the hysterics already? I mean, John Kerry dropped more than a few f-bombs on the campaign trail already, but you don't see Republicans getting their red, white, and blue boxers in a bunch over it. In fact, I think that's the problem with modern politics. The problem isn't a lack of civility; it's a lack of good incivility.

When it comes down to it, America has a bunch of wimps representing us. Have you ever watched C-Span during a Congressional debate on one bill or another? Snooze City, kids. Watching Congressmen refer to each other as "my honorable colleague" is absolutely sickeningly sweet! You know there are times when someone on the floor wants to say, "Yeah, this jackass from South Carolina is a complete tool." Instead, we get Democrats and Republicans calling each other "dear friends" and inviting them off to grill steaks over Memorial Day weekend. It's like the country's being run by the Stepford Student Council Members.

Compare Congress to some of their peers around the world. In Britain's Parliament, you are allowed to heckle a speaker while he or she is speaking! Japan's Parliament has come to fisticuffs on more than a few occasions. Hell, even in America, we've had Congressmen and Senators fight duels over comments as innocuous as the "girlie man" comment! We are innovators in so many arenas from the sciences to entertainment and we can't figure out how to get a donnybrook between Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch started?

Seriously, we need to do something to toughen up the skins of our elected officials. To his credit, Schwarzenegger isn't backing down from his comments, but I guarantee you that there are a good number of elected officials who would be booking space for a press conference to apologize for the "insensitive" comment. And the truth is a lot of the hue and cry over the offensiveness of such comments are done not out of genuine disgust, but out of political gamesmanship. What better way to paint your opponent and his or her party as a bunch of evil people than to announce to the world that they said something you objected to?

Well, I'm tired of every politician playing the nancy boy (or in the case of Representative Pelosi, the Nancy girl) over some minor slight like being called a name. You are supposed to represent us, and last time I checked we all weren't a bunch of touchy-feely New Age sensitive people who cry at the opening of Oprah. (Well, with the exception of California.) If someone says something you don't like, say something right back! And please don't make it something like, "Oh yeah?" The only thing worse than no comeback is a lame one. If you're going to be uncivil, at least do it with some style!

Besides, would there be anything funnier than watching Joe Lieberman calling one of his colleagues a "punk-ass beeyatch"? I think not.

And that's the Bottom Line.